American Bank With Branches In Thailand?

[girlx]

My bank (Netbank) recently failed and was acquired by ING Direct. Luckily it was FDIC insured so I still have my savings. But I don't like ING. So, while I am in NY this week I thought I might transfer my cash into a new account with a bank which has branches in Thailand. Is this possible? I heard Citibank has a branch, and that Bangkok Bank has a branch in NY... is this true? Can anyone recommend one? My priorities are being able to manage my account from either country (or online) and no or minimal fees for withdrawal from Thailand. Thanks for any help.

[Acquiesce]

Siam comercial bank has an office in New York.

Bank of America has a branch in Bangkok http://www.bankofamerica.com/th/contact_us.cfm

[naka]

Citibank has a branch in Bangkok, they also have a website in Thai and English.

Naka.

Edited October 29, 2007 by naka

[girlx]

does any other expat american have experience using any of the above?

[thaihome]

Branches of US Banks in Thailand (and pretty much the rest of the world) are separate entities that are not linked to the US based companies. You will find that the BofA and Citibank branches in Bangkok will not allow you to direct access to your US based accounts. Besides, I believe the BofA branch is only does commercial banking and does not have consumer accounts. I think Citibank does have consumer accounts (with really high minimums) but again, no link to US accounts.

TH

[Upcountry]

I use USAA (https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=products_services_main). I do everything online with them. Some transactions may require a fax (at least during account setup. etc.).

Bangkok Bank has a NY office, so I can make electronic transfers from USAA to BB. The only fees I pay are BB's for transfer.

[Jingthing]

I use USAA (https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=products_services_main). I do everything online with them. Some transactions may require a fax (at least during account setup. etc.).

Bangkok Bank has a NY office, so I can make electronic transfers from USAA to BB. The only fees I pay are BB's for transfer.

You failed to mention that USAA has strict eligibility requirements to open an account! (Military mostly.)

Who is Eligible?

* Children of USAA members.

* Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.

* National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.

* Recently retired or separated military personnel.

[asiaexpat]

My bank (Netbank) recently failed and was acquired by ING Direct. Luckily it was FDIC insured so I still have my savings. But I don't like ING. So, while I am in NY this week I thought I might transfer my cash into a new account with a bank which has branches in Thailand. Is this possible? I heard Citibank has a branch, and that Bangkok Bank has a branch in NY... is this true? Can anyone recommend one? My priorities are being able to manage my account from either country (or online) and no or minimal fees for withdrawal from Thailand. Thanks for any help.

CitiBank has a branch in Bangkok as does HSBC USA. I have accounts at each and found that the Thai branchs are actually seperate institutions from the US banks and therefore one cannot directly transfer funds or access accounts of the other with a single internet account. HSBC Premier offers the best deal in inter-bank transactions but you must maintain a very large balance to get the best rates. I opened an account with Kasikorn Bank with internet access and manage it from overseas without any problem.

[jonniebkk]

I have used my USA based Citi account for almost 10 years in Thailand. I can do just about anything online that I could do in person. Don't know about the fees charges, however, because my account is high net worth so most fees are waived. However, like mentioned above, the Citi branch in Thailand/Bangkok is a separate legal Thai entity so it is not just "another branch" of Citibank. It is Citibank in Thailand. There computer systems are not interconnected or anything like that so if you went up to a teller at the Sathorn branch and wanted to know your account balance or do some other transaction on a USA based account they can not help you. However, I believe there is no fee if you take money out of a USA account at their ATMs in Bangkok (other than whatever currency conversion rate they use).

Basically, what you need is any USA bank that has really good online banking services and is used to doing business with business travelers. Any of the main money center banks (Citi, JP Morgan Chase, BoA, HSBC) would be fine. Whether or not they have a branch in Thailand is really irrelevant because like I said, even though the name "brand" is the same, they are really separate Thai based banks (of their parent banking company's). I do everything online and never really go to the branch. Also, it's convenient to be able to link all your account together...makes paying bills and transfers easy.

[Jingthing]

Most US banks do not allow online transfers to Thai banks. Instead, you have to physically walk into a US branch and initiate a REPEAT wiring agreement. Then you can call, fax, or email (depending on their rules) to do transfers.

Edited October 30, 2007 by Jingthing

[Gary A]

Most US banks do not allow online transfers to Thai banks. Instead, you have to physically walk into a US branch and initiate a REPEAT wiring agreement. Then you can call, fax, or email (depending on their rules) to do transfers.

That's not true. I have made many wire transfers through Citibank US to my account at Siam Commercial here in Thailand. It is a simple thing to do online and the money has always been in my Siam Commercial account the very next day. A wire transfer costs a flat $30 regardless of the amount.

[Jingthing]

Most US banks do not allow online transfers to Thai banks. Instead, you have to physically walk into a US branch and initiate a REPEAT wiring agreement. Then you can call, fax, or email (depending on their rules) to do transfers.

That's not true. I have made many wire transfers through Citibank US to my account at Siam Commercial here in Thailand. It is a simple thing to do online and the money has always been in my Siam Commercial account the very next day. A wire transfer costs a flat $30 regardless of the amount.

No, it is true. I said MOST US banks. You named one of the few exceptions.

[jonniebkk]

Most US banks do not allow online transfers to Thai banks. Instead, you have to physically walk into a US branch and initiate a REPEAT wiring agreement. Then you can call, fax, or email (depending on their rules) to do transfers.

That's not true. I have made many wire transfers through Citibank US to my account at Siam Commercial here in Thailand. It is a simple thing to do online and the money has always been in my Siam Commercial account the very next day. A wire transfer costs a flat $30 regardless of the amount.

No, it is true. I said MOST US banks. You named one of the few exceptions.

I agree...I transfer a few thousand every month from my Citi account to one of several of my Thai bank accounts (Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayuthya) and never a problem. The key (and there was tread on this awhile back) is to sign-off on the bank's wire-transfer agreement when you set up your usa based account. Then just go online in Thailand and transfer away I think any usa based bank should have this available. Otherwise, like you say, you have to do the fax-dance back and forth to get anything done.

The key is to tell your bank when setting-up the account that you will be overseas and need to sign-off on whatever paperwork is necessary to do everything you can online. Also, like I said, it's better to deal with one of the larger more internationally oriented banks.

[lopburi3]

Most banks seem to have a wire transfer agreement that you must sign in there presence prior to using remote options to initiate them. That is a one time deal and once you sign the agreement you can then make transfers by whatever method they allow.

[wallacern]

Bank of America and Bangkok Bank have worked out well for me. My pension is direct deposited to Bangkok Bank NY and they automatically deposit it in my local Bangkok Bank account. Total fees work out to about $7.

Bank of America will transfer funds from my Bank of America account to my Bangkok bank account via the internet for about $5.

I have been doing this for about a year without any problems.

Bangkok bank is still screwing around about giving me internet access to my account.

Good luck,

Mike

[asiaexpat]

Bank of America and Bangkok Bank have worked out well for me. My pension is direct deposited to Bangkok Bank NY and they automatically deposit it in my local Bangkok Bank account. Total fees work out to about $7.

Bank of America will transfer funds from my Bank of America account to my Bangkok bank account via the internet for about $5.

I have been doing this for about a year without any problems.

Bangkok bank is still screwing around about giving me internet access to my account.

Good luck,

Mike

I remember a tread back 2005 that talked about this but my attempts to open a Bangkok Bnak NY account have been met with the response they are just a commerical bank and do not have personal accounts. This obviously wrong si I am interested in the process to open an account. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Jingthing]

Most banks seem to have a wire transfer agreement that you must sign in there presence prior to using remote options to initiate them. That is a one time deal and once you sign the agreement you can then make transfers by whatever method they allow.

Yes, I agree to a point.

Each one is different.

I thought the Wachovia one was going to be good. This is a big major US bank. I went through their whole process to get a repetitive wire agreement set up. In their case, I actually had to do one manual wire first to initiate the repetitive wire agreement. Guess what? The agreement was only good for a few years, revealed much later when they sent the letter with my password. Not sure yet whether this can be renewed with a new password or need to start over. In any case, beware. Many US banks are very expat unfriendly.

As I said on another thread, my other major bank will cancel my repeat wire agreement when I change my US address which it turns out I have to do soon. Not flexible!

Netbank was a solution for many, I had considered it, glad I didn't bother.

I think Citibank is probably a good choice for doing wires. I think I rejected it when I was opening accounts before I left because of high fees on accounts, but not sure I remember all the details.

Edited October 31, 2007 by Jingthing

[lopburi3]

I remember a tread back 2005 that talked about this but my attempts to open a Bangkok Bnak NY account have been met with the response they are just a commerical bank and do not have personal accounts. This obviously wrong si I am interested in the process to open an account. Any suggestions are welcome.

As far as I know the information was not wrong and is still not wrong. Bangkok Bank in the US will not open private accounts. What people are sometimes able to do, not always and for many not reliability, is to use the fact Bangkok Bank has an ACS number to make on-line domestic wire transfers and using there Thailand account number have the money transferred. In cases that this is known or human intervention is made believe the US bank(s) have blocked it.